Fall 2010

Welcome to the Divinity School Library, and best wishes to you for fall 2010! We thought you should know about some changes we’ve made to improve the library and to make it easier for you to use. Please read on!

1. Research help @ the Divinity School Library
2. York Room changes
3. ePrint software upgrade required
4. Save money, avoid fines
5. Divinity School Library Kindles available
6. Dave Munden takes a turn at our Reference Desk
7. Disappearing periodicals?
8. Theological Library Month in October
9. What to do with books you don't need? Donate them to the library

1. Research help @ the Divinity School Library
You are invited to attend a variety of library and technology workshops. These 30-45 minute sessions will begin at 12:30pm and are held in the library’s Computer Classroom (on Level D). Please register for sessions at http://library.duke.edu/events/divinity/help/eventsreg.do.

Monday, August 30 Introduction to BibleWorks 7
Tuesday, August 31 Using EndNote to manage citations
Tuesday, September 7 Using RefWorks to manage citations
Monday, September 13 Library Tools for Biblical Exegesis
Tuesday, September 14 Introduction to BibleWorks 7
Monday, September 20 Introduction to Accordance for Mac
Tuesday, September 21 Theological Research Strategies
Monday, September 27 Theological Research Strategies
Tuesday, September 28 Library Tools for Biblical Exegesis
Monday, October 4 Interdisciplinary Approaches to Theological Research
Tuesday, October 5 Searching the Online Catalog

2. York Room changes
The York Room continues to be a popular place to study (when there are not events in it). This year, you will enter the York Room from the second-floor hallway of the Gray Building, not through the library. This makes access to restrooms easier. A schedule of when the York Room is available as a reading room will be posted outside the York Room door. The room’s hours are the same as the library’s. We ask that the tables and chairs NOT be moved, since they are old and fragile. Thanks.

3. ePrint software upgrade required
If you are new to Duke or have been using ePrint at Duke previously, you’ll need to install the latest ePrint software on your computer. Among other improvements, the new version of ePrint will now be fully compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems! See OIT’s webpage for further information about the upgrade and instructions to install the software on your computer

4. Save money, avoid fines
There are no limits on how many books you may check out but please note that you are only guaranteed two weeks from the check-out date even though the due date is in December. Library books can be requested from you after two weeks and the due date changes to 7 days after the request is made. There is a three dollar-a-day fine for every day it is late. You will be notified by your Duke e-mail address so make sure you check that address; make sure library notices don’t go to your spam file.

You request reserve books at the circulation desk. You’ll need to know the professor’s name and the title of the book.

5. Divinity School Library Kindles available
The Divinity School Library has three Kindles now available for two-week loan to all Duke faculty, staff, and students. Titles licensed for these Kindles include a number of standard textbooks used in the Divinity School, Divinity School faculty publications, and reference works. Through a special grant from the International Collaboration Committee of the American Theological Library Association, a matching set of three Kindles has also been provided to ISTHA, a seminary outside Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. A full list of titles can found on the library catalog. Additional Kindles with a different set of titles are available at Perkins and Lilly libraries.

6. Dave Munden takes a turn at our Reference Desk
You may have seen Dave Munden before he begins his work at the Divinity School Library’s Reference Desk. He is the Evening Reference Librarian and Supervisor at the Lilly Library (on East Campus) and recently completed his AM in Duke’s Religion Department. Before Duke, Dave worked in the public library and in Cornell University Library as an assistant before deciding to pursue librarianship as a profession. He has a particular interest in how cultural and religious pieties intersect in the liberal arts curricula and across the academic disciplines. We look forward to Dave’s service at the Reference Desk on Monday and Wednesday afternoons during the semester. Dave is volunteering his time; thank you, Dave!

7. Disappearing periodicals???
You may have noticed that a few journals in our current periodicals section are disappearing. Some have ceased publication, but several have gone completely electronic, such as those published by Wiley-Blackwell. Please check the library catalog to see in what format the journals now appear.

We are also moving the earlier years of some of our larger periodical sets to the Library Service Center because of space issues. Be sure to check the location of the periodical and the year in our catalog if part of the set seems to be missing.

8. Theological Libraries Month in October
Established by the American Theological Library Association, Theological Libraries Month (TLM) highlights the vital role libraries and librarians play in theological education. Now an annual October event, this year we expand our traditional events with the new Card Catalog Challenge.

But first, let’s begin with our annual contest, the “Top Ten Reasons Why” (I should come to the Divinity School Library). Enter the contest from the library website and win a prize. Entries are accepted between Oct 1 –Oct 23rd and winners will be announced at the closing reception. Check out the Divinity Library Spotlight blog for entries from last year.

The new Card Catalog Challenge is a ‘green’ event using twenty library catalog cards to create an art piece with the same cards that are now part of our online public access catalog. Back in the day, these cards were hand written/typed by catalogers and later machine processed to provide a record of what the library held in its collection. Now they are recycled cards whose text can be a part of a created art piece to be displayed in the Divinity Library art gallery during October. Prototypes from local artists will be on display in the library to help give you ideas. Catalog cards will be available September 1st from the Circulation Desk. Deadline is Sept 25th.

Here are the guidelines for the challenge:

• Everyone gets 20 cards each

• The only acceptable text is what’s on the card

• Origami is okay

• Sculpture, painting or three dimension work is fine

• Cannot be larger than 12”x 12”x12”

• Don’t have to use all 20 cards but can’t use more

• One entry per person

9. What to do with books you don't need? Donate them to the library
… but the library already has this book, you might say. Yes, but it may have been lost and be in need of replacing. Or, for popular books, we might want an extra copy. Or, we might not already have it and wish to add it to the collection. In any case, you would speak with the library director, Roger Loyd (roger.loyd@duke.edu or 919-660-3452), about your wish to donate your books to the library.

If we do not keep the book, more than likely we will pass it along to the Theological Book Network for distribution to theological libraries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Their motto is, “Converting excess to access.” We regularly send them large shipments of gift books, such as the 42 boxes pictured below.